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Ceasefire teeters after US bombings kill 62 Syrian government soldiers
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT: US-led coalition airstrikes reportedly hit Syrian military personnel and caused casualties on Saturday after mistaking them for Islamic State
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT: US-led coalition airstrikes reportedly hit Syrian military personnel and caused casualties on Saturday after mistaking them for Islamic State targets.
The incident endangers a US-Russia brokered ceasefire and prompted an emergency UN Security Council meeting as tensions escalated between Moscow and Washington.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said at least 83 soldiers were killed and more than 120 wounded in the raids, which the US military said took place south of Dayr Az Zawr in Syria. The Russian defence ministry has put the number of those killed at 62, with over 100 wounded.
The US central command, which has charge of military operation in the region, said a raid against IS targets, which was being tracked for a “significant amount of time” by the coalition, was cut short after Russia said the targets may have belonged to the Syrian Army instead.
PARTS OF ALEPPO POUNDED BY STRIKES
The ceasefire was on the brink of collapsing on Sunday after the US-led coalition strikes in Aleppo. The barrage of strikes on rebel-held districts of Aleppo risks reigniting battlefronts there and could be the most serious threat to the ceasefire so far.
A halt to fighting around Aleppo and the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid were key components of the fragile deal that took effect on Monday evening. Russia said the situation in Aleppo city was “especially tense” on Sunday, blaming the instability on rebels.
“The amount of shelling by rebel groups against positions of the Syrian government troops and of residential areas is increasing,” said defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
